80 Mile Monday

Today I rode 80 miles with Hannah and Jeb. 

We left at 6:00 am and rode North on the Bosque then up through Bernalillo and Algodones on NM 313 until we hit 30 miles. We turned around where 313 meets I-25 and rode back to the Bosque, then did the South Loop. We were still a couple miles shy of 80 when we got to the top of the bridge, so we rode up Ouray and turned around just before Unser then went back to the Brown's house. The whole adventure took us seven hours and we averaged about 14 mph over the course of the ride. I followed a much more thought out nutrition plan which served me well. I sipped Gatorade from my camelback throughout the ride, then drank water when we stopped. I ate a bunch of gummy candies, three Rice Krispie treats, half a package of Kind breakfast bars, and about half of a huge protein cookie candy bar thing during rest stops, totaling about 650 calories (not including the Gatorade). I also took two Ibuprofen at the half way mark. I felt like I had plenty of energy and only my lower back started to ache a bit towards the very end. I definitely felt more thrashed when it was over than I expected and was pretty much useless for the rest of the day, but I'm really happy with how the ride went. What's more, I feel quite confident that I'll be able to ride the Century in three weeks within the allotted time without absolutely killing myself.

I couldn't ask for better riding buddies than the Brown's. They made me work for it, but kept me with them the entire ride, which means they went slower than they needed to. They let me draft off of them most of the time, but still had me take my turn in the front of the line. I felt considered, but not coddled, and they gave me genuine encouragement and congratulations. I feel truly blessed to have been brought into this sport by such good friends.